Morphological and physiological responses of eggplant cultivars (Solanum melongena L.)‎ to drought

الملخص EN

Four eggplant cultivars namely Black Beauty (BB), Long Purple (LP) , Florida Mark et (FM) , Egyptian White (EW) were used to test the effect of drought on morphological and physiological trait s under field conditions during summer and spring seasons in 1991•92, Drought stress reduced plant height , leaf area , number of leaves , number of branches, stem diameter, leaf dry weight and root dry weight during both seasons.

Significant differences were observed among different eggplant cultivars in their response to seasonal variation causing substantial effect on plant growth.

High temperature associated with drought stress during summer caused more plant injuries than spring season .

Florida Market (FM) cultivar showed more tolerance to stress than other eggplant cultivars in most morphological and physiological traits.

It appears from the result s that an improvement in eggplant cultivars could be made through breeding program .